McCain Camp Fights "Troopergate" Claims

Republican Campaign Machine Releases E-Mails Supporting Palin's Stance On Fired Staffer

(AP)  The presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain is trying to put to rest the ethical controversy that's come to be known as "Troopergate," releasing e-mails supporting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin 's contention that she dismissed her public safety commissioner over budget disagreements, not because he wouldn't fire her ex-brother-in-law.

And, the campaign says, Palin is unlikely to speak with an investigator hired by the state legislature to look into the matter.

Among the e-mails released was one of farewell written by the public safety commissioner himself, Walt Monegan, when he was fired in July. In it, he suggested the governor had reason to believe she had lost his support, and urged his former colleagues to communicate better with her.

"For anyone to lead effectively they must have the support of their team, and I had waited too long outside her door for her to believe that I supported her," he wrote. "Please, choose a different path."

The controversy erupted in the weeks following the firing, as it emerged that Palin, her husband, Todd, and several high-level staffers had contacted Monegan about state trooper Mike Wooten, who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister before she became governor. While Monegan says no one from the administration ever told him directly to fire Wooten, he says they didn't have to: There was nothing subtle about the repeated contacts.

In July, the four Democrats and eight Republicans on Alaska's Legislative Council voted unanimously to investigate the circumstances of Monegan's dismissal. Although Monegan was an at-will employee who could be fired for almost any reason, lawmakers wanted to see whether Palin tried to use her office to settle a personal score with Wooten.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee voted Friday to issue subpoenas to 13 people, including Palin's husband, to compel cooperation with the investigation. The campaign said it didn't know if Todd Palin planned to challenge his subpoena.

The governor has not been subpoenaed, but the investigator hired by the legislature, Steve Branchflower, said Friday he is interested in speaking with her. Campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said that was unlikely as long as the investigation "remains tainted."

Though the governor initially said she'd cooperate, after she became McCain's running mate in late July, her lawyer sought to have the three-member state Personnel Board take over, alleging that public statements made by the Democratic chair of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Hollis French, indicated the probe was politically motivated.

French had said the results of the investigation could constitute an "October surprise" for the McCain campaign. He later apologized. The campaign also insists that French, Branchflower and Monegan are friends, even though the men say they only know each other professionally and have never socialized.

Democrats charged that the McCain campaign was trying to stall the investigation.

"Rather than cooperating with the investigation, the Republican presidential campaign is doing everything it can to stall and smear," said Patti Higgins, chairwoman of the Alaska Democratic Party.

McCain campaign spokeswoman Meg Stapleton denigrated Monegan at a news conference Monday, accusing the three-decade cop of "insubordination," "obstructionist conduct" and a "brazen refusal" to follow proper channels for requesting money.

When Monegan was fired, the governor offered to let him head the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Asked why someone with a history of insubordination would be given such a position, Stapleton said that without having to deal with a budget, Monegan would be able to focus on alcohol abuse issues.

The governor "respects the fact that he was respected in the community," she said.

Thomas Van Flein, a lawyer for the governor's office, cited the newly released e-mails Monday in asking the Personnel Board to find no probable cause for an ethics investigation.

In an interview Monday night, Monegan said Palin never raised concerns about his management. In fact, at an event in May, she singled him out and praised his efforts to reduce violence against native women.

"In my time as a commissioner, the governor has never talked to me about complaints about my efforts," Monegan said.

He said all he meant to convey in his farewell letter was that because he was being fired, the governor must have believed he didn't support her, and to the extent his communication skills were to blame, others should avoid his mistake.

The e-mails made clear that some Palin staffers believed Monegan and the Department of Public Safety worked outside normal channels. One was written in May by Randy Ruaro, then a special assistant to Palin, to the governor's budget director, and concerned efforts to pay for and build a crime lab.

"I FEEL YOUR PAIN! DPS is constantly going off the reservation," he wrote.

In February, Monegan signed a public letter of support for a $3.6 million project designed to keep troubled teens off the street in Anchorage - even though the governor had vetoed the project last year and hadn't included money for it in her budget this year.

"I am stunned and amazed - do you know anything about this?" budget director Karen Rehfeld wrote to two other high-level staffers when she learned of the letter.

"Think about that: one of the governor's own cabinet members publicly contradicting her veto decision," Stapleton said.

Monegan acknowledged he shouldn't have signed the letter, because it put the governor in the awkward position of defending her veto decision. But he said he thought of the letter as simply making another run at getting funding for a worthy project.

The last straw, the McCain campaign said, was in July, when Monegan planned to travel to Washington to seek federal money for a plan to assign troopers, judges and prosecutors who could exclusively handle sexual assault cases - one of the state's most intractable crime problems.

In a July 7 e-mail, John Katz, the governor's special counsel, noted two problems with the trip: The governor hadn't agreed the money should be sought, and the request was "out of sequence with our other appropriations requests and could put a strain on the evolving relationship between the Governor and Sen. (Ted) Stevens."

Four days later, Monegan was fired. He said he had kept others in the administration fully apprised of his plans to go to Washington.

[sleepyric]

You are a witness to John McCain''s first cover up! More to come if he''s elected!

[kansas1946]

GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin shifted her tactics for the second time in three weeks on the "Troopergate" investigation, this time calling to end the very investigation that she herself called for and the one the McCain campaign had said was the only proper venue for a probe.

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Hmmmm..the water getting a little too hot?? I guess she really is a proper mate for McCain. McCain has flipped and flopped on almost every issue, and now Palin is flipping and flopping on "Troopergate."

[kansas1946]

*****BREAKING NEWS *********
Sarah Palin said to dropping out of the race!!
It seems she Misrepresented( Lied )about herself to McCain`s " Vetting Committee "
MORE SOON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by laborsvoice at 01:20 PM : Sep 17, 2008
+ report abuse
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If it were only true. Sigh.

[kansas1946]

McCain has donated 65% of his salary EACH YEAR to various charities over the last 10 years. Clearly JOHN MCCAIN understands the problems that are affecting this country.
Posted by Hillary_FTW2 at 09:25 AM : Sep 17, 2008
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So effin'' what. What would he need with his measly salary from the senate when he doesn''t even know how many houses he owns. He married his rich trophy bride and has lived on her money since. Please. John McCain is so far removed from real America and their problems, that it is laughable to suggest anything else.

[kansas1946]

Lack of vetting is coming back to haunt McCain. He picks a woman with so much baggage a 747 couldn''t carry it. He has sent a "crew" (translate thugs) to Alaska to put a lid on the rumors. The extramarital affair, abuse of power, a family in disarray, huge earmarks for Alaska, etc., etc., etc. He not only has shown a horrible lack of judgement with the Palin pick, he puts our country at risk with this pick. She would be a hearbeat away from the presidency,and I have got to tell you, THAT really does give me nightmares.

[joepack61]

"Insubordination" doesn''t exist here. I don''t see that Monegan failed to follow any direct order from the Governor. The emails Palin has provided are internal emails between Palin''s staff. Was
the July 7 e-mail, from John Katz sent to Monegan, himself? And if so, it does not contain an order to not go on the trip. However, any reasonable person serving in an at-will job, I think, would have heeded the wisdom of that e-mail. Palin has no regard for intelectual dissent and free speech. The letter Monegan signed wasn''t even his own. He just endorsed a project that he felt was going to reduce juvenile crime in Anchorage. Was this Wooten guy fired after Mnegan was fired? What were the reasons for termination, assuming he was represented by a union and assuming Palin hadn''t destroyed the trooper''s union.

[kirslis-2009]

McCain is Illegally Tampering With Palin Investigation! McCain Must Be Forced to Obey The Law!
Edward O%u2019Callaghan, hired by McCain, is illegally medeling by actively blocking the Palin investigation to steal the election for McCain! Newsweek journalist Michael Isikoff reports %u201CThe growing role of Edward O%u2019Callaghan, who until six weeks ago served as co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit of the U.S. attorney%u2019s office in New York, illustrates just how seriously the McCain campaign is taking the so-called %u201Ctroopergate%u201D inquiry into Palin%u2019s firing last summer of Walt Monegan, Alaska%u2019s Public Safety Commissioner.%u201D
Where is the media outrage to cry foul! McCain starts by making false accusations against Obama while intentionally and illegally tampering with the legal juriprudence of the Alaska state congress! After the GOP twice stole presidential elections in Florida and last time in Ohio, the media and Democrats must stand to stop McCain stealing the election! McCain is taking an aggressive illegal strategy aimed at shutting down a pre-election ethics investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin! The media must insist that Callaghan and second unnamed McCain advisor leave Alaska immediately and the investigation and 13 subpoenas be allowed to continue!

[nursehope]

Doesn''t this sound familiar. I''m recalling some of the Bushies refusing to testify re: some unethical and illegal acts? Again...more of the same...no change here!

[mitch5511]

Of course, the McCain campaign is trying to squelch this investigation. All Republicans would love to see it go away but it''s not going to. People are tired of the corruption and lies permeating through our gov''t regardless if it''s state or federal.

[missglo]

Its like the Old Saying goes. If you are living in a Glass house. Don''t throw any stones. Watch your aim Palin. What are you hiding?

[pastdue1]

What is with the news media? Couric now gets(?) an interview with Palen, The McCain campaign has turned obtaining an interview into a big deal for anchors, no less~ another indication that the McCain campaign is manipulating the press. "Be nice, or you won"t get an interview" or "promise you won''t ask her anything that hasn''t been answered already" "Be sure you don''t pin her down on specifics" The same canned statements is not what these campaigns need to be focusing on and it definitely is not what the media needs to be focusing on. Their job is to inform and, believe me, we have been informed about Palin''s biography. Besides, she is getting boring.

[pastdue1]

McCain has donated 65% of his salary EACH YEAR to various charities over the last 10 years. Clearly JOHN MCCAIN understands the problems that are affecting this country.
Posted by Hillary_FTW2 at 09:25 AM : Sep 17, 2008

And even if this were true, what did he give up? It probably meant less to him than the American worker who gives $100/yr to a charity. After all, McCain has been supported by his multi-millionaire wife for the last 30 some years. He probably doesn''t even know what his salary is.

[aggiekat2004]

The article in the New Republic is actually favorable to Joe Biden. It discusses his effort to keep the domestic violence bill from being defeated and his overall respect for women.

Posted by evie78 at 11:42 AM : Sep 17, 2008
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I didn''t see anything bad about Biden there. What are you referring to?

[evie78]

The article in the New Republic is actually favorable to Joe Biden. It discusses his effort to keep the domestic violence bill from being defeated and his overall respect for women.

[evie78]

Hey LADIES,

Check out the New Republic''s website for the article about Joe Biden. I learned some interesting details about him that every woman should know.

[freemanswish]

Serioulsy, Obama is so slippery

and fikle, he just bad talks

McCain which Im sick of negatives,

attacks Bush, he would blame anyone, very

negative vibe, and very stuck up

attitude this is not what we need.

We need solutions.

I gave up and decided Hussein

Obama is like a farse, I dont need

to be cool and cosmopolitan.

I am an independent and I will

definitely vote for the McCain

Sarah Palin ticket at least I

know what they stand for.


This is why CBS has low rating, because they have Bious articles like this. Change?

[pastdue1]

Fiorina just said what the CEO''s of large corporations have always believed. That government employees are basically dumb and the government should be controlled by all those smart CEOs. They love the republicans because they are so easily controlled. They really hate it when an intelligent and educated person is elected president and will do almost anything to stop that from happening.

[sjw1253]

twalk1122
" I%u2019ll DEBATE ANYBODY ON WHY GEORGE W. BUSH SHOULD BE PRESIDENT ANOTHER 8 YEARS."

-------------------------------------

I don''t know what to say... How would you like to buy a "bridge to nowhere in Alaska"???

Best of luck with your new medication regimen...

[armydog2]

joedante
well said, i agree with completely, OBAMA/BIDEN 08 the only logical choice for our Country. I''ve been to Alaska, what a beautiful state you have.

[babooph]

The harder she works to hide it ,the uglier it looks !!!